Me: Chapter 10 already!!
Duo: Good job.
Me: Double digits. I'm happy.
Kayla: I'm not.
Me: Why?
Naoko: We're not in this chapter.
Me: Sorry, but you will be later.
Yukiko: In about five chapters, right?
Trowa: SylphWindDancer owns nothing. See previous chapters.
Chapter 10
Two months later...
It'd been two months before anything happened with the renegades, and the pilots had split up in almost half. All the guys plus Satsuki had been in one group on Earth, and the remaining girls stayed in space.
And, to the non-Americans' pleasure, they got a place to stay in Europe. It wasn't far away from the Sanq Kingdom, but it was in a forested area. They had a large building (that you could probably see from town...) that stored their Gundams in. They lived in a separate house, which was two-storied. What happened to Scarlett, you ask? Duo and the others found out. Typically, Wufei said to throw her out, Trowa had no comment for it, Quatre said to at least give her a meal, Heero also said nothing, and Duo and Satsuki ruled over them, saying let her stay for a while. I mean...they did LOTS of background junk...but now, let's join the poor, bored group...
Satsuki sipped her Dr. Pepper very slowly. She muttered, "Can't something happen? I'm not kidding. If something doesn't happen, I'm going to commit sucide."
"The boredom is annoyin', isn't it?" Duo leaned over the couch beside her, staring at the news. "I mean, it's winter, and it's not even snowed yet."
Wufei commented, "I'm sure you'll get over it, Maxwell."
"Damn. If we were in New York or somethin', we'd be making Gundam snowmen or something," Duo jumped on the couch from behind.
"Duo, I doubt you could even make a decent snowman," Trowa remarked, drinking some coffee to wake him up in the early morning.
"Hey!" Duo protested.
"He's right, Maxwell. You'd just end up making it perverted," Wufei added.
"What's wrong with you guys...?" The shinigami pouted.
Satsuki leaned back a little, her head peering back into the hall towards the stairs, "Hasn't Scarlett gotten up yet?"
"No. Appearantly, two shinigamis' kept her up all night," Heero spoke for the first time in the conversation.
"I beg to differ! A game of poker could not keep a person up when she's in a different room," Satsuki challenged.
"It could if those two people were screaming about lost money and cheating," Trowa, being next to their room on the left, pointed out.
"We were not screaming. We were whispering loudly," Duo shot back.
"Speaking of which..." Satsuki muttered, "You still owe me twenty-five bucks. Pay up."
"Shimata. Why couldn't you have forgotten?" Duo grumbled angrily, digging out bills out of his wallet.
"It's not like you're poor. Well, I guess I'll go wake her up," Satsuki stood, setting her drink down. Just as she was about to go upstairs, she shouted, "If my drink's empty when I get back, Duo, omae o korosu! Not to mention, I'll take your breakfast!"
"Kuso..." Duo set the cup down.
Pilot 07 walked upstairs, and walked in hers and Duo's room first. She found her wallet, and, after the game last night, checked if all her money was still there. It was. She deposited her new bills into it, set it down, shut the door, and walked over to the room on her right. She opened the door a crack and said, "Hey, Scarlett? You up?"
"Hnn...I don't wanna get up yet..." came a sleepy murmur from the person underneath the blankets.
"Too bad. Get up. Momentarily, Quatre is cooking breakfast, and I suggest, that, if you want any, to get up. Because if you don't, I'm gonna eat it all-"
"Fine! I'm going," Scarlett literally rolled out of bed, and cushioned her fall in her giant blankets. A few moments later, she stood.
Trowa, mysteriously walking by at that time, observed, "Note to self: to get American friends out of bed, threaten them by saying you'll eat their food. Got it."
"Not cool, Trowa. You do that, and I swear, I will kill you. Don't threaten me with my stomach," Satsuki growled.
"Well, we'll see..." he walked into his room for a minute or two.
Satsuki walked back downstairs, carefully checked her Dr. Pepper, then patted Duo on the head, "Good job. You restrained yourself."
"Yeah, whatever..."
"Duo, your pancake is ready!"
"Whoo-hoo!!" Duo dashed to the kitchen to receive his food from Quatre. Normally, though...when Quatre said your pancake, he normally meant 'your two pancakes.' And needless to say, Duo loved it. He drowned his pancake in syrup, grabbed a fork, and rejoined Satsuki on the couch again, watching the news boredly again.
At this time, Scarlett stumbled downstairs, following the wonderful scent. She then found herself in the kitchen.
Quatre called, "Satsuki, yours is done!"
"Yes!!" Satsuki rushed in, got the syrup on it, had her fork, and walked out. Scarlett muttered, "I hope mine is next, Quatre..."
"It is. Glad to see you finally got up," Quatre turned, smiling.
"Yeah, well...two certain people kept a certain someone up until about three o' clock in the morning..." Scarlett sent an accusing glare towards the Maxwells on the couch.
Heero turned to them from his chair off to the side, "Told you."
"Hey, you could've come in and said we were too loud," Duo pointed out.
"I did."
"You did?" The brother and sister looked back.
"Yeah. You did pretty good for a while, but then, Duo shouted something along the lines of 'dammit, you cheated somehow!' Then, Satsuki yelled back at him that he cheated, and etc..."
Trowa came back downstairs, and tossed something at Scarlett, who barely had time to catch it. She looked at her hands.
Earplugs.
"They work miracles." Trowa put his cup in the sink.
"Thanks, Trowa."
A few minutes later, everyone had their pancake, and browsed through the TV. Nothing was on. Satsuki practically punched the off button, then spoke up, "Well, I plan on going out today."
"Where did that come from?" Wufei cocked his head.
"Well, I, for one, don't feel like being cooped up today. So, I'm going to go out."
"Without me?! What's the matter with you?!" Duo looked at her with wide eyes.
"Oh, you can go, too. Crybaby," Satsuki smirked, going upstairs to change.
As Duo stood, he looked at the others, "Anyone else want to come?"
Trowa glared at him, giving his answer. Duo frowned, "Just askin', man. Jeez."
Quatre nodded, "I'm going to sit this one out."
Duo stared at Heero, Wufei, and Scarlett with hope. Wufei and Heero hissed, "Keep dreaming." But, Scarlett decided to be a good sport and sighed, "I'll go with you, I guess..."
"Well, better get dressed." Duo advised.
"In a second."
Within about twenty minutes, they were dressed and were all out the door. Quatre told them to be careful, and they said they would be.
The Sanq Kingdom had been fully rebuilt, businesses decided to move in, and this was also where Relena had been assassinated. She had been giving a speech in the public when someone shot her through the stomach. She had been taken to the hospital, and looked like she was going to make it. However, it was after the Gundam pilots came and visited her that her condition dramatically worsened, and she had faded away. And that was the one reason Heero hardly went to the Kingdom anymore...Relena had died.
In a way, he felt some guilt. Like it was his fault that she had died.
---Flashback---
Duo came out of the hospital room where Relena was, and he put a hand on Heero's shoulder, "Be gentle with her, okay, Heero?"
Heero said nothing. He looked at Duo for a moment before walking in. Relena looked up from the bed, her face pale. "Heero...hey."
"How are you doing?" Heero sat by her bedside.
"Not too bad. How about you guys? Are you finally settling back after the whole incident?" Relena looked up at him slightly.
"We're doing fine. You should be worrying about yourself."
"I'm fine, Heero. However, I...I want to tell you something..."
"What is it?"
"Heero, I've...I've always...had...feelings, I guess you could say."
Heero stared at her for a moment.
"I've always loved you, Heero. Since I first met you."
"Relena, I...I've always had feelings for you, too. But...they weren't love."
Stray tears fell from Relena's eyes. She wiped them away and smiled up at him, "I just wanted to tell you, okay?"
After Heero left, Quatre went in and came back out a while later. He caught up with Heero and inquired, "What was the matter with Relena?"
"...It was nothing."
---End Flashback---
But...Heero felt it was all his fault. Like his answer caused her heart to break and it told her to just give in to her pain. When he'd found out about the news of her, the nurse and doctor had said that his name...was the last thing she'd said before she'd died.
---
"C'mon, Duo! It won't be that bad!" Satsuki assured.
"That bad?! Are you kidding? I don't want new clothes. I like mine just fine," the shinigami pouted.
"Yeah, well, get over it. Besides..." his sister leaned in towards his ear, "You might just get a new black jacket out of this."
"Okay, maybe it won't be that bad, but still..."
Scarlett grinned, "You're just afraid that we're going to make you put on something stupid, aren't you?"
"Mmm...maybe...?"
And so, it was two hours later that the three were eating out at a diner called Kamikaze. They decided to get an outdoor table, seeing as even though it was chilly outside, the sun was shining brightly. Somewhat. They kept their bags with them, and Duo was proudly wearing his new black longjacket that reached down inbetween his knee and hip. He gobbled down his burger (that the place thankfully had) and was drinking some coke. Once the two girls finished eating, they paid, yet sat there to talk a little.
"So...are we gonna go anywhere else?" Scarlett pondered aloud. "What time is it?"
The Maxwells looked at their cell phones, "It's only about three."
"We've got time for something else," Satsuki propped her head into her hand, her elbow on the table.
"Something like...?" Duo droaned.
"How about we go check out the rest of the shops? Not buy anything, but browse." Scarlett offered.
"We could do that," nodded the female shinigami.
They each picked up at least one bag (Duo carrying two) and walked off. Duo randomly said, "I wish they had a weapons shop here, but they don't."
"Of course not. The Sanq Kingdom is supposed to be peaceful." Satsuki told him.
"I know. It's for good reason."
"Yeah..."
"I guess that's a good idea that Relena thought to do that."
Scarlett came in on the conversation, "Relena?"
"Yeah. Relena Peacecraft. She was related to the famous soldier slash peace embassador, Milliardo Peacecraft. Or, aka, Zechs Merquise." Duo explained.
"Oh, yeah, I've heard of the Peacecrafts. Totally pacifists, right?"
"Yep."
"Interesting..."
"What's interesting?" Satsuki raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing. Just thinking out loud." I guess...I shouldn't tell them yet. I can't. Not yet. It's too soon. Her death still lingers around their heads.
"You know..." Duo stopped in his tracks on the sidewalk as the air grew colder around them.
"What is it?" Satsuki turned back to her brother, she and Scarlett stopping as well.
"Heero...he blames himself for Relena's death."
"That's ridiculous!" Satsuki exclaimed.
"I know. But...he does. Quatre had a conversation with him. I knew I shouldn't have, but...I was listening."
"Heero, ever since you saw Relena last, and I saw her crying, you've not been yourself. What's wrong?"
"Quatre...it's my fault..."
"What?"
"Relena...it's my fault she's dead."
"How could that be? You didn't do anything to her!"
"She told me...that she loved me, but...I told her I didn't care for her that way."
"Heero, that couldn't be the reason for her death."
"Quatre...it is my fault. I...I caused her heart to shatter and give in."
"Heero..."
"He thinks that he caused Relena's heart to break." Duo told them what he'd heard that night.
Neither of them could say anything. Scarlett started turning and walked past Duo. He turned, "Umm...where are you going?"
"Home," she monotonously said.
Duo and Satsuki followed her. Once they got in the house, they announced they were home. Before they knew it, once Scarlett saw Heero pass by, she kicked off her shoes, ran up to him, and-
Smack!
Heero snapped around, "What the hell is your problem?!"
"Scarlett-"
Said girl interrupted Duo's warning, and choked out, "How could you think you cause Relena to die?!"
Heero's eyes hardened to stone, "How do you know about that?"
"Does it matter?! What kind of an accusation is that?! Blaming yourself?!"
Because of this yelling, Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei appeared. Quatre gave Duo and Satsuki a questioning glance and they walked over and explained it. Quatre seemed to give Duo a harsh look, but knew that once Heero found out, Duo would get a harsh punishment.
"This is none of your business," Heero turned his back to her, and she grabbed his shoulder, "Where do you think you're going?"
Heero's gaze set upon her. He shoved her away, and walked down the hall, slamming his door. Scarlett's eyes were glazed with anger, and she stomped upstairs. Satsuki smacked Duo on the head, "Way to go."
"Ow! Why is my fault? She acted on her own." Duo protested.
"That is true." Trowa supported pilot 02.
"Is it just me, though, or did she overreact?" Quatre asked.
"It seemed like it. But it's not exactly like it's easy to piss Yuy off that much." Wufei pointed out.
A knock on the door interrupted this conversation, and Wufei went to answer. They heard him say, "Why are you here, onna?!"
"Nice to see you, too, Wufei," a female voice playfully said back.
A few seconds later, Sally Po walked into the living room, and smiled, "Hi, guys. I heard you were in the area, so I decided to drop by."
"Unannounced..." Wufei mumbled beside her.
"How are you, Sally?" Quatre ignored the comment made by the pilot 05.
"I'm fine. How are all of you?"
"We're doing alright," Trowa told her.
Her eyes caught Satsuki, "And who might this be?"
"You're right. We haven't met yet. I'm Satsuki Maxwell, pilot 07." Satsuki held out her hand.
Sally shook it at the same time as she repeated, "I'm Sally Po. Did you say Maxwell? Pilot 07?"
"Yeah. You've not heard the rumors about the new Gundam Pilots?"
"I supposed not."
"She's also my little sister," Duo proudly declared.
"Sister...? Wow, I really need to catch up, don't I?"
"More than you'd believe," Quatre chuckled.
And so, they sat down over dinner that evening, telling Sally all about what they had done and were doing momentarily. She listened to their whole story and concluded, "So...you're here, waiting for them to give some sort of little slip up and tell you where they are."
"That's pretty much it." Trowa nodded.
"Well, Noin and I can try to get some men to look at suspicious areas for you," Sally offered.
"That could help. Just be sure to be careful." Quatre advised.
"Don't worry. When aren't we ever?"
Duo leaned back on two legs on his chair, "I wonder if Heero and Scarlett are ever gonna come out of their rooms."
"They will. Eventually." Satsuki assured.
"Eventually," he scoffed.
Little did they know, in Heero's room...
"...and so, you should go to this celebration and stop the transferral," Dr. J said on Heero's trusty laptop.
"Roger," Heero stated.
"You better get on the ball. The party-thing is in four days, and you have to get ahold of some invatations somehow."
"I will, no problem."
"Bring at least two of the others to help along. We've already given Naoko and them orders in space."
"Got it."
"See ya, Heero!" Dr. J vanished from the screen.
Heero sighed, and rubbed his eyes. So...the renegades are finally moving. I've got to go and stop transferring orders at this celebration, huh? Easy enough. Two people, though? I could always get Wufei and Trowa to come. Then again...
He opened the door and walked toward the kitchen. He was a little startled to see Sally sitting at the table. He frowned, "What're you doing here?"
"Visiting. You have a problem with that, Heero?" Sally slyly grinned.
"Hn."
"Are you gonna eat something, Heero?" Quatre gestured to an empty seat with a plateful of food. He said nothing, but sat down and ate some of the food.
Trowa inquire, "Someone call?"
Heero knew what that meant. He eyed him, then told them about the mission Dr. J ordered him to do. Wufei asked, "Is it a formal thing?"
"Yes. It's a celebration for the Sanq Kingdom. It's been a year since they got back up on their feet," Heero explained. "He advised that I take at least two people with me."
"And that would be...?" Satsuki paused, waiting for an answer.
"I'm not sure yet. I'll go ahead and try to get some invatations."
"What I don't get is if it's a celebration for the Kingdom," Duo fiddled with some mashed potatoes, "then why would you have to have an invatation? It would normally be open for the public."
"It's more than likely the working of the renegades," Trowa brought to light, "They could've rigged this in some way."
Quatre muttered, "I heard this morning on the news that they had found a still living relative of the Peacecrafts and that they were going to ask her to take the throne."
"I didn't see that..." Wufei and Trowa turned to the Arab.
"It was just after you guys gave up on it. I was about to turn it off, and they said it was breaking news. It was about and hour after Duo, Satsuki, and Scarlett had gone out," explained pilot 04.
"Well, either way...we need to decide who's going to go." Heero reminded.
Duo raised his hand, "I'll go."
"I could be backup," Satsuki suggested.
Heero cocked an eyebrow, "Actually, if you're going to volunteer, I have a better idea for you...even though I personally don't like it."
"Huh?"
"This can't be good," Sally muttered to Quatre, who agreed.
Satsuki: Hey, what's up with Scarlett?
Wufei: And why did the onna pop up out of nowhere?
Me: Because I wanted her to.
Satsuki: HEY! What's wrong with Scarlett? What's up with that thought of hers?
Scarlett: I have been sworn to deep secrecy. If I tell, Heero will shoot me.
Quatre: That means Heero knows too.
Heero: Shut up, Scarlett. You talk too much. (holds up gun)
Wufei: Shoot her!!
Duo: Hey, shut it, Wuffie!
Wufei: WHAT WAS THAT?!
Trowa: Why am I doing all this all of a sudden...? Anyway, kindly drop a line or two off on your way out.